4 is the smallest squared prime (p2) and the only even number in this form. It has an aliquot sum of 3 which is itself prime. The aliquot sequence of 4 has 4 members (4, 3, 1, 0) and is accordingly the first member of the 3-aliquot tree.

A number is a multiple of 4 if its last two digits are a multiple of 4. For example, 1092 is a multiple of 4 because 92 = 4 × 23.

Four is the smallest composite number that is equal to the sum of its prime factors. (As a consequence of this, it is the smallest Smith number).[1] However, it is the only composite number n for which (n − 1)! ≡ 0 (mod n) is false.

A solid figure with four faces as well as four vertices is a tetrahedron, and 4 is the smallest possible number of faces (as well as vertices) of a polyhedron. The regular tetrahedron is the simplest Platonic solid. A tetrahedron, which can also be called a 3-simplex, has four triangular faces and four vertices. It is the only self-dual regular polyhedron.

Four-dimensional space is the highest-dimensional space featuring more than three convex regular figures:

The four-color theorem states that a planar graph (or, equivalently, a flat map of two-dimensional regions such as countries) can be colored using four colors, so that adjacent vertices (or regions) are always different colors.[3] Three colors are not, in general, sufficient to guarantee this. The largest planar complete graph has four vertices.

Representing 1, 2 and 3 in as many lines as the number represented worked well[citation needed]. The Brahmin Indians simplified 4 by joining its four lines into a cross that looks like the modern plus sign. The Shunga would add a horizontal line on top of the numeral, and the Kshatrapa and Pallava evolved the numeral to a point where speed of writing was a secondary concern. The Arabs' 4 still had the early concept of the cross, but for the sake of efficiency, was made in one stroke by connecting the "western" end to the "northern" end; the "eastern" end was finished off with a curve. The Europeans dropped the finishing curve and gradually made the numeral less cursive, ending up with a glyph very close to the original Brahmin cross.[4]

Magga – The Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering

Four sights – observations which affected Prince Siddhartha deeply and made him realize the sufferings of all beings, and compelled him to begin his spiritual journey—an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and an ascetic

When Abraham said: “My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead,” Allah said: “Why! Do you have no faith?” Abraham replied: “Yes, but in order that my heart be at rest.” He said: “Then take four birds, and tame them to yourself, then put a part of them on every hill, and summon them; they will come to you flying. [Al-Baqara 2:260]

The respite of four months was granted to give time to the mushriks in Surah At-Tawba so that they should consider their position carefully and decide whether to make preparation for war or to emigrate from the country or to accept Islam.

Those who accuse honourable women (of unchastity) but do not produce four witnesses, flog them with eighty lashes, and do not admit their testimony ever after. They are indeed transgressors. [An-Noor 24:4]

Other

In a more general sense, numerous mythological and cosmogonical systems consider Four corners of the world as essentially corresponding to the four points of the compass.

Four is the sacred number of the Zia, an indigenous tribe located in the U.S. state of New Mexico.

Insects of the superorder Endopterygota, also known as Holometabola, such as butterflies, ants, bees, beetles, fleas, flies, moths, and wasps, undergo holometabolism – complete metamorphism in four stages – from (1) embryo (ovum, egg), to (2) larva (such as grub, caterpillar), then (3) pupa (such as the chrysalis), and finally (4) the imago.

Valency of carbon (that is basis of life on the Earth) is four. Also because of its tetrahedral crystal bond structure, diamond (one of the natural allotropes of carbon) is the hardest known naturally occurring material. It is also the valence of silicon, whose compounds form the majority of the mass of the Earth's crust.

The symbolic meanings of the number four are linked to those of the cross and the square. "Almost from prehistoric times, the number four was employed to signify what was solid, what could be touched and felt. Its relationship to the cross (four points) made it an outstanding symbol of wholeness and universality, a symbol which drew all to itself". Where lines of latitude and longitude intersect, they divide the earth into four proportions. Throughout the world kings and chieftains have been called "lord of the four suns"..."lord of the four quarters of the earth"...[5] by which is understood to the extent of their powers both territorially and in terms of total control of their subjects' doings.

The Square of Opposition, in both its Aristotelian version and its Boolean version, consists of four forms: A ("All S is R"), I ("Some S is R"), E ("No S is R"), and O ("Some S is not R").

In regard to whether two given propositions can have the same truth value, there are four separate logical possibilities: the propositions are subalterns (possibly both are true, and possibly both are false); subcontraries (it is possible that both are true, but not that both are false); contraries (it is possible that both are false, but not that both are true); or contradictories (it is not possible that both are true, and it is not possible that both are false).

The Stoics held with four basic categories, all viewed as bodies (substantial and insubstantial): (1) substance in the sense of substrate, primary formless matter; (2) quality, matter's organization to differentiate and individualize something, and coming down to a physical ingredient such as pneuma, breath; (3) somehow holding (or disposed), as in a posture, state, shape, size, action, and (4) somehow holding (or disposed) toward something, as in relative location, familial relation, and so forth.

Franz Brentano held that any major philosophical period has four phases: (1) Creative and rapidly progressing with scientific interest and results; then declining through the remaining phases, (2) practical, (3) increasingly skeptical, and (4) literary, mystical, and scientifically worthless – until philosophy is renewed through a new period's first phase. (See Brentano's essay "The Four Phases of Philosophy and Its Current State" 1895, tr. by Mezei and Smith 1998.)

C. S. Peirce, usually a trichotomist, discussed four methods for overcoming troublesome uncertainties and achieving secure beliefs: (1) the method of tenacity (policy of sticking to initial belief), (2) the method of authority, (3) the method of congruity (following a fashionable paradigm), and (4) the fallibilistic, self-correcting method of science (see "The Fixation of Belief", 1877); and four barriers to inquiry, barriers refused by the fallibilist: (1) assertion of absolute certainty; (2) maintaining that something is absolutely unknowable; (3) maintaining that something is absolutely inexplicable because absolutely basic or ultimate; (4) holding that perfect exactitude is possible, especially such as to quite preclude unusual and anomalous phenomena (see "F.R.L." [First Rule of Logic], 1899).

Paul Weiss built a system involving four modes of being: Actualities (substances in the sense of substantial, spatio-temporally finite beings), Ideality or Possibility (pure normative form), Existence (the dynamic field), and God (unity). (See Weiss's Modes of Being, 1958).

Karl Popper outlined a tetradic schema to describe the growth of theories and, via generalization, also the emergence of new behaviors and living organisms: (1) problem, (2) tentative theory, (3) (attempted) error-elimination (especially by way of critical discussion), and (4) new problem(s). (See Popper's Objective Knowledge, 1972, revised 1979.)

John Boyd (military strategist) made his key concept the decision cycle or OODA loop, consisting of four stages: (1) observation (data intake through the senses), (2) orientation (analysis and synthesis of data), (3) decision, and (4) action. Boyd held that his decision cycle has philosophical generality, though for strategists the point remains that, through swift decisions, one can disrupt an opponent's decision cycle.

Richard McKeon outlined four classes (each with four subclasses) of modes of philosophical inquiry: (1) Modes of Being (Being); (2) Modes of Thought (That which is); (3) Modes of Fact (Existence); (4) Modes of Simplicity (Experience) – and, corresponding to them, four classes (each with four subclasses) of philosophical semantics: Principles, Methods, Interpretations, and Selections. (See McKeon's "Philosophic Semantics and Philosophic Inquiry" in Freedom and History and Other Essays, 1989.)

Wide use of rectangles (with four angles and four sides) because they have effective form and capability for close adjacency to each other (houses, rooms, tables, bricks, sheets of paper, screens, film frames).

"Quattro", meaning four in the Italian language, is used by Audi as a trademark to indicate that four-wheel drive (4WD) technologies are used on Audi-branded cars. The word "Quattro" was initially used by Audi in 1980 in its original 4WD coupé, the Audi Quattro. Audi also has a privately held subsidiary company called quattro GmbH.

In cricket, a four is a specific type of scoring event, whereby the ball crosses the boundary after touching the ground at least one time, scoring four runs. Taking four wickets in four consecutive balls is typically referred to as a double hat trick (two consecutive, overlapping hat tricks).

In basketball, the number four is used to designate the Power Forward position, often referred to as "The four spot".

in the United States, the last four teams remaining in the NCAA playoff tournament, each of which is the winner of its respective region (for collegiate hockey the term Frozen Four is used).

In Europe, the last four teams remaining in many national and transnational club competitions, most notably the Euroleague.

In roller skating, roller skates typically have four wheels. When the wheels are arranged in a single line, they are called “in-line” skates. When the wheels are arranged in a four-point configuration (two in front, two in back), they are called “quad” skates.

In rowing, a four refers to a boat for four rowers, with or without coxswain. In rowing nomenclature 4− represents a coxless four and 4+ represents a coxed four.

In baseball scoring, number 4 is assigned to the second baseman. Also, four is the most number of runs that can be scored on any single at bat, whereby all three baserunners and the batter score (the most common being via a grand slam).

In American football, the offensive team has four downs (plays) to advance the ball 10 yards otherwise loss of possession occurs.

four points are awarded in a handful of leagues for rarely attempted types of field goals; an example is in six-man football. Because of the difficulties of getting a successful kick due to the few players on the field, a field goal is worth four points. Also, in Arena Football, a successful dropkicked field goal attempt scores four points.

the "four hole" in offense terminology is the space between the right guard and the right tackle on the offensive line

the "four back" is an extra running back (outside the fullback and halfback, often referred to as an H-back) in the backfield; e.g. a play call for a "44 lead" indicates the H-back will follow the fullback into the hole between the right guard and the right tackle.

The New York Yankees, for Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig. Notably, he was the first player in major North American sports to be so honored by a U.S.-based team (he was preceded in this honor by Ace Bailey, whose #6 was retired by the Toronto Maple Leafs five years earlier).

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a policy of not retiring numbers unless the player honoured either died or suffered a career-ending incident while a member of the team. Other players whose numbers would otherwise be retired instead have their numbers enshrined by the team as "Honoured Numbers", which remain in circulation for future players. The number 4 is currently honoured for Hall of Famer Red Kelly.

The common major scale is built on two sets of four notes (e.g., CDEF, GABC), where the first and last notes create an octave interval (a pair-of-four relationship).

The interval of a perfect fourth is a foundational element of many genres of music, represented in music theory as the tonic and subdominant relationship. Four is also embodied within the circle of fifths (also known as circle of fourths), which reveals the interval of four in more active harmonic contexts.